Three East Stroudsburg University courses spared from future cutbacks

Wednesday

Oct 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Three East Stroudsburg University programs have been removed from a list of those facing possible faculty layoffs, said President Marcia Welsh during a campus-wide meeting with faculty and staff Tuesday afternoon.

CHRISTINA TATU

Three East Stroudsburg University programs have been removed from a list of those facing possible faculty layoffs, said President Marcia Welsh during a campus-wide meeting with faculty and staff Tuesday afternoon.

English, psychology and reading are no longer on the list of departments being considered for cuts, Welsh said.

Other departments still being reviewed include chemistry, modern languages, movement activities and lifetime fitness, music, physical education, communication studies, early childhood and elementary education, history, philosophy, political science, professional and secondary education, special education and one non-academic department, the CAPS counseling center.

Last week, the ESU Council of Trustees unanimously approved a 2013-14 general education budget totaling $97.2 million.

The budget includes $4.2 million in cuts from 2012-13 to offset increased personnel and utility costs.

Despite the balanced budget, administrators say the university still needs to "right-size" its budget for the future due to decreasing enrollment and increasing expenditures.

On Tuesday, Welsh talked about plans to focus on student enrollment, particularly retaining current students.

The discussion resulted in a heated exchange between the president and some faculty members.

"On the one hand, you're talking about student retention, yet you're taking actions that seem on their face to discourage student retention," said Kenneth Mash, vice president of ESU's faculty union.

"Won't cutting programs drive students away?" he asked.

"Ninety-five percent of our students won't notice what's going on here"»" Welsh said. "We are asking to decrease the number of electives and streamline majors. We have overlaps in some majors."

University officials were able to balance the 2013-14 budget through measures such as leaving certain positions vacant, early retirements and $1.45 million in savings achieved through a 20 percent cut in all operating budgets. Not renewing some adjunct professors' contracts saved another $372,000.

ESU officials will also hold off on construction projects, such as replacing roofs and HVAC systems on campus buildings, saving another $1.7 million.

A one-time shot of $1.3 million from the provost's institutional support fund also helped close the gap.

Student enrollment decreased by about 2 percent since last fall, which was better than administrators initially projected in June, when they were anticipating a 5 percent decrease, said University Spokeswoman Brenda Friday.

"If the student shortfall is less than projected, why are there still a significant number of departments on the list?" Mash asked about those programs being reviewed for cuts.

Some faculty chairs have received questions from parents asking whether they should still send their children to ESU because of program cuts, said Nancy Van Arsdale, president of the faculty union.

Van Arsdale said she's heard particular concerns about music, French and physics.

At the start of the budget process, the university faced a $7.6 million shortfall, Welsh said.

University officials anticipate starting the 2014-15 year with about a $3 million shortfall due to the $1.7 in building repairs that are being pushed off and the one-time infusion of $1.3 million from the provost's institutional support fund, which won't be available in 2014-15.

"There is no fat left. I know it's picking muscle off the bone," Welsh said.

The departments in question are currently meeting with the university's deans and ESU's provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Van Reidhead, who said that as of Tuesday no decisions had been made on whether to layoff any faculty members.

Tenured faculty must be notified by the end of the month whether or not they will be laid off in the 2014-15 academic year.

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